Talk:James Milner

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To-do list for James Milner: edit · history · watch · refresh

Here are some tasks you can do:
  • Expand: Style of play sections
  • Update: Stats table and Infobox every time he plays
  • Other: Find a free use image of him playing for Leeds

Contents

[edit] Style of play

I find that Sky Sport's 'Opta Jurys' are useful for supporting claims made in this section. Some info from here may improve the article. Sir-Nobby 17:11, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Bit out of date isn't it. Buc 21:01, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't matter. Sir-Nobby 16:40, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

The link doesn't work as Sky Sports have changed the whole format of their website around, including the Opta Audit section. I'll try to find it again. Sir-Nobby 17:36, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Better lead image

[1]

Clearly I'll need to get there permission first. Buc 14:35, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

I take it you got their permission then? It's certainly a better image to use in the infobox, very clear and shows his face. Sir-Nobby 17:36, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA comments

Hello, here are my comments.

  • First, I'm not sure Milner should be rated as High importance. After all, Geoff Hurst who scored a hat-trick for England in the World Cup Final is rated as High and I can't imagine Milner being quite on his level of significance yet.
    • Y Done Buc 08:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "football player" - just footballer will suffice.
  • "As a child Milner was recognised as a talent in football, cricket and as a long distance runner from the age of nine." - why specify the runner age, seems incongruous.
    • Y Done age removed. Chensiyuan 02:55, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "...becoming a ball boy at the club. He began his career..." - missed the bit where he became a footballer and signed for the club?
    • Well these are touched on, not sure if details are needed in the lead but I've added a bit more anyway. Buc 08:11, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "...hundred appearances for them." - who, Swindon, Villa or Newcastle - it's not clear.
    • Y Done should be clear now. Chensiyuan 01:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "...starting 11..." - don't like this - use eleven here.
  • Presume you have permission to use the photograph.
    • Yes Buc 07:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Ref [2] doesn't verify that he got 11 A's or higher at GCSE. He got 11 GCSEs, that's all it says.
    • Y Done Removed A's. Chensiyuan 01:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "He was the cross-country champion and the district champion over 100 metres for three and two consecutive years respectively.[1]" - difficult sentence to decipher.
    • How about now? Buc 07:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "...striker; Alan Smith..." - why semi-colon?
    • Y Done presumably a typographical. Chensiyuan 01:38, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "...Under-17 summer tournament..." - what is this - a Euro/World tournament?
    • Neither just a tournament against three other U-17 teams. Buc 07:30, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "He appointed Mick McGuire, who was the deputy, chief executive of the PFA, as his agent." - no citation.
    • I'd leave it to the principal editors to find the ref; all I could find is McGuire being his agent and a executive of the PFA, but not his date of appointment. Chensiyuan 03:07, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
      • I've got a better idea, remove it althogether. Buc 08:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "At the start of the 2003–04 season, Milner was sent on a month-long loan to Second Division side Swindon Town to gain experience as a first team player. He saw it as a "valuable experience".[2]" - merge sentences, with "...player which he saw as...".
  • "Their ultimate relegation..." just "Their relegation..." will do.
  • "In September he made his début in European competition, when Newcastle played Israel's Bnei Sakhnin in the UEFA Cup. He scored his first competitive goal for the club against West Bromwich Albion in a 3–1 win, after coming on as a substitute for Patrick Kluivert." - citations please.
    • Y Done Buc 07:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "1 January" - add year.
  • "In June, Milner competed for England at the European Under-21 Football Championship where he played in all four of England's matches. He was booked in the semi-final, which meant he would miss the final, yet scored twice in the penalty shootout, which England lost 13–12." - citation needed.
    • Y Done Buc 07:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
  • "He displays maturity beyond that expected from someone of his age, he lives with his parents and sister. He rarely drinks alcohol or goes out at night.[3] His heroes are former France captain Zinedine Zidane and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry. He owns a BMW X3 and previously owned a Ford Focus. He enjoys most comedies particularly Friends and The Office, he also sees himself as a funny person. He also owns a PlayStation and a pet Canaan hound named Zizzi." - pure fancruft - is it what you'd find in an encyclopaedia?
    • I know but the Off the pitch section is so thin on the grounds anyway so I'm going to keep it in for now. If something major happen off the pitch I'll remove it. Buc 07:32, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
      • It's non-encyclopaedic, full stop. It should go. The Rambling Man 07:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
        • Basically, there shouldn't be a compulsion to keep an "Off the pitch" section simply because many (good) soccer articles have it. If Milner doesn't really do anything noteworthy (in the include-in-WP-sense), then I think there's nothing wrong with removing the section altogether. Those soccer articles which have such a section usually deal with noteworthy pursuits such as extensive philanthropy, big money endorsements and what not. Milner's still young, until he has done something noteworthy off the pitch (or if you can find something), we don't really need the section. It's painful to take away content I know, but why not if it doesn't reduce the quality of the article? Chensiyuan 08:01, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
          • I vote remove as well (well, I would do, wouldn't I?)... The Rambling Man 09:09, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

So there's quite a lot to do here. I'll fail it for the time being but I hope it is brought back to WP:GAC improved shortly put it on hold. Let me know if anything needs additional explanation. The Rambling Man 20:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)]]

"...so it remains to be seen if Milner will be able to successfully make the transition...." - original research - remove please. The Rambling Man 18:14, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
Rephrased Buc 19:01, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
Okay, my criteria are harsh, but I'm prepared to accept this article is good enough to be a GA now. Well done. The Rambling Man 19:37, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
While playing there, Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon recognised his talent and asked a parent who he was. Coulson persuaded Milner to play for his Rawdon side in various tournaments.

Is questioning of the parent informative or essential? If not I would suggest:

While playing there, Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon recognised his talent and persuaded Milner to play for his Rawdon side in various tournaments.

No big deal it either way I guess--Random Replicator 04:12, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Copy edit

As requested, I am in the process of copy editing this article so it can be nominated for FA status. I think the Career section needs a paragraph before the first heading - maybe some of the content from Early life could be moved there? --carelesshx talk 18:09, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Non-free images

The images Image:Milnercross.JPG and Image:James Milner 17.JPG are unsuitable for use as the flickr pages show that they are licensed for non-commercial use only. I have contacted the authors of both images requesting that they amend the licence to allow use in this article. I believe Buc has contacted the owner of Image:Milner2.JPG, as this has the same problem. --carelesshx talk 01:12, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Image:Milnercross.JPG is now correctly licenced. I am waiting to hear from the creator of Image:James Milner 17.JPG --carelesshx talk 22:10, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

The creator of Image:James Milner 17.JPG has agreed to change the licence to one suitable for wikipedia. I'll update the page as soon as I hear from him. --carelesshx talk 12:48, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Republic of Ireland under 14s

How did he qualify to play for them? Sir-Nobby 10:55, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

  • The ref doesn't say. Buc 14:34, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
    You should find one that does. It's anomolous... The Rambling Man 14:38, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
    • It has a ref that says he played for them. Buc 14:54, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
      But it's a fair question. If he's England U-21, how did he get to play Ireland U-14? The Rambling Man 15:02, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Copyedit

This article, or a prior version of it, was copyedited by the League of Copyeditors on 18:30, 5 February 2008 (UTC). The League is always in need of editors with a good grasp of English to review articles. Visit the Project page if you are interested in helping.

Copyedited by Rob C. alias Alarob – 05:15, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
Proofread by Galena11 (talk) – 17:15, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

He didn't play for the Republic - ever. Has actually played for England at every level except under 18's, and senior, being promoted to the 21's very early hence the record number of caps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.38.75.58 (talk) 17:24, 23 March 2008 (UTC)